Classics left to die/rotting pics - Vol 2

[lowdrag]

Fastdruid said:

Original 1967 GT40 (GT40P/1070) "destroyed" in a fire in 1970 then rebuilt in the 2000's. As it was after the fire and many years of rot.

Edited by Fastdruid on Monday 12th March 00:07

If this is the car I think it is it was rebuilt in St Helens in a little back street garage. I never saw the car but it did have a sad effect on my life. Apparently the car was restored by the father and son and was sold on, not finished, just before the big classic car boom of 1989/90. The new owner then sold it on for a massive profit. it affected me because for three years I tried to buy, from the same father and son, the original Jaguar demonstrator E-type chassis #4, used by Lofty England. They had been so traumatised by their loss on the GT40 that no matter what I couldn't buy it, even though it was a dismantled car with tea-chests full of parts and no bonnet. And for the mid-90s I offered a substantial sum for it - more than a good running car would fetch back then. It had sat there, unloved and in bits, since 1974 when the then owner stopped paying his restoration bills. However, the garage owner was convinced that one day it would be his pension fund and sold it some years back at auction. It fetched £63,000 as was, and was bought by CMC and fully restored for the owner, Peter Neumark. He also owns the Lindner/Nocker low drag coupé. The E-type is now probably worth about £500,000.

Mind you, if the GT40 isn't that car, I've just wasted your time. Bye for now.

[DickyC]

I know it was the Sixties but pushrods and rockers seem archaic for a racing car.

Was it a single cam in the bed of the V?

[interloper]

DickyC said:

I know it was the Sixties but pushrods and rockers seem archaic for a racing car.

Was it a single cam in the bed of the V?

In a word yes, it was simple, reliable and eventually a race/ Le Man winner.

[DickyC]

interloper said:

DickyC said:

I know it was the Sixties but pushrods and rockers seem archaic for a racing car.

Was it a single cam in the bed of the V?

In a word yes, it was simple, reliable and eventually a race/ Le Man winner.

Thanks, interloper. I'm a bit ashamed because I read John Wyer's The Certain Sound. You'd think I would have picked that up.

[DickyC]

There's a story about a GT40 which got a bit bent and had a new tub. The damaged tub stood on its side behind the team's buildings until someone bought and rebuilt it using genuine GT40 parts including some from the original car. The problem was, which was the genuine car? Eventually both were accepted and share the chassis number IIRC. The story is in David Hodge's GT40 book but I can't check as I seem to have sold or lent or given it away. I do that.

[swooshiain]

lowdrag said:

If this is the car I think it is it was rebuilt in St Helens in a little back street garage. I never saw the car but it did have a sad effect on my life. Apparently the car was restored by the father and son and was sold on, not finished, just before the big classic car boom of 1989/90. The new owner then sold it on for a massive profit. it affected me because for three years I tried to buy, from the same father and son, the original Jaguar demonstrator E-type chassis #4, used by Lofty England. They had been so traumatised by their loss on the GT40 that no matter what I couldn't buy it, even though it was a dismantled car with tea-chests full of parts and no bonnet. And for the mid-90s I offered a substantial sum for it - more than a good running car would fetch back then. It had sat there, unloved and in bits, since 1974 when the then owner stopped paying his restoration bills. However, the garage owner was convinced that one day it would be his pension fund and sold it some years back at auction. It fetched £63,000 as was, and was bought by CMC and fully restored for the owner, Peter Neumark. He also owns the Lindner/Nocker low drag coupé. The E-type is now probably worth about £500,000.

Mind you, if the GT40 isn't that car, I've just wasted your time. Bye for now.

That sort of story is precisely why I love this sub-forum - no time wasted at all!

[Fastdruid]

lowdrag said:

If this is the car I think it is it was rebuilt in St Helens in a little back street garage. I never saw the car but it did have a sad effect on my life. Apparently the car was restored by the father and son and was sold on, not finished, just before the big classic car boom of 1989/90. The new owner then sold it on for a massive profit. it affected me because for three years I tried to buy, from the same father and son, the original Jaguar demonstrator E-type chassis #4, used by Lofty England. They had been so traumatised by their loss on the GT40 that no matter what I couldn't buy it, even though it was a dismantled car with tea-chests full of parts and no bonnet. And for the mid-90s I offered a substantial sum for it - more than a good running car would fetch back then. It had sat there, unloved and in bits, since 1974 when the then owner stopped paying his restoration bills. However, the garage owner was convinced that one day it would be his pension fund and sold it some years back at auction. It fetched £63,000 as was, and was bought by CMC and fully restored for the owner, Peter Neumark. He also owns the Lindner/Nocker low drag coupé. The E-type is now probably worth about £500,000.

Mind you, if the GT40 isn't that car, I've just wasted your time. Bye for now.

Pretty sure it's not that car... It would have been almost a brand new tub with little more than a few pieces kept. Way more than a back street garage would be able to do. Only a few places (like Gelscoe who did the rebuild) would be able to do that.

But no time wasted, an interesting tale.

[Fastdruid]

DickyC said:

There's a story about a GT40 which got a bit bent and had a new tub. The damaged tub stood on its side behind the team's buildings until someone bought and rebuilt it using genuine GT40 parts including some from the original car. The problem was, which was the genuine car? Eventually both were accepted and share the chassis number IIRC. The story is in David Hodge's GT40 book but I can't check as I seem to have sold or lent or given it away. I do that.

They only made 105 GT40's and all 215 of them are still in existence.

[4rephill]

Fastdruid said:

They only made 105 GT40's and all 215 of them are still in existence.

In true classic car style: "The old ones are the best!"

[Jimmy Recard]

DickyC said:

I know it was the Sixties but pushrods and rockers seem archaic for a racing car.

Was it a single cam in the bed of the V?

I think the Corvette C7R has a 5.5 litre overhead valve V8 and they were first built in 2014

It's quite a neat solution - for packaging having a single camshaft in the block is very compact

[randomeddy]

Modern classic?

Spoke to the owner, somebody offered him £2k for it, he accepted but they didn't come back. It was his fathers, last taxed in 1999. It is ropey and has greenery growing inside.

Edited by randomeddy on Sunday 25th March 16:32

[Jimmy Recard]

Boob it

[gothatway]

Jimmy Recard said:

Boob it

Indeed - surely the number has to be worth a couple of K to someone.

[AMG Merc]

randomeddy said:

Modern classic?

Spoke to the owner, somebody offered him £2k for it, he accepted but they didn't come back. It was his fathers, last taxed in 1999. It is ropey and has greenery growing inside.

Edited by randomeddy on Sunday 25th March 16:32

I'll take the windscreen for £50. Fits my Noble

[larrylamb11]

randomeddy said:

Modern classic?

Spoke to the owner, somebody offered him £2k for it, he accepted but they didn't come back. It was his fathers, last taxed in 1999. It is ropey and has greenery growing inside.

Edited by randomeddy on Sunday 25th March 16:32

Whereabouts is this? Can you put me in touch with the owner? or PM me the details please?

[Longnose]

I used to have one of these. Wembley is a good hunting ground for abandoned cars...

[TonyRPH]

Longnose said:

I used to have one of these. Wembley is a good hunting ground for abandoned cars...

The MOT history suggests that has 444000 miles on it...

And it ran out last year in July.

[Pericoloso]

After 444000 miles ,it deserves a rest....

[healeyneil]

A few from over 60 cars. I bought a Frogeye 🤣

[healeyneil]